Sleepless
by amandazgreat
Summary: He was never able to sleep... only to reminisce and wish for more. But now, his whole life felt like a waking dream. [Frighteningly AU, AkuRoku]
1. Fragments

6/24/06 - Edited the author's note for my own sake. Edited the chapter for yours.

Warning: Extreme AU-ness, shounen-ai. Just so you know.

Also, this is my first shot of getting back into writing for god knows how long, so forgive anything that seems particularly... bad. It's all just a start again, and I know for a fact that it will get better as I keep adding chapters. And besides, the first chapters are always just set-up for me, anyway. So, please, for the love of yaoi, don't give up on this story "because the first chapter sucks". Mkay? Mkay.

**Sleepless**  
Chapter One: Fragments

Sleep never came easily to a guy like him. It was just the way life worked.  
Another sleepless night was passing as thoughts stirred unceasingly through this teenage boy's mind.  
The future, the past, the universe... anything and everything flooded to him in those hours of night in which no one wants to be alone.  
Of everything, the memories were the worst.  
And at night, they always came back.

Holding his fingers to his pale forehead, he winced as he attempted, in vain, to block horrible images that remained so permanent. He held his breath, remembering the worst things done to him, and some of the cruel things he himself had done. Sometimes, he wondered if he even had a heart. He glanced toward the window as the first hints of sunlight crept through the thin curtain. Once again, like every night's end, daybreak brought both a release and a sudden re-emersion into the present. With a disappointed yet relieved sigh, he rose to his feet, chair clattering with the motion, and shuffled over to the small reflective panel on the wall evidently made of a strip of the oh-so-high-tech substance known as aluminum foil.   
"Yeah. Great mirror this is," he muttered, obviously frustrated with his lack of decent furniture, as he stared into his own piercing eyes. He raised is hand to try to flatten down his hair, but it was to know avail. Shrugging, he narrowed his eyes and stared for no more than two additional seconds before slipping on his black sweatshirt and heading outside.

The chill in the air was yet to dissipate, as the sun was still rising. Regardless, the boy scowled at the idea of cold weather; he promptly located the correct street and sauntered of to the sunniest place in town to counteract his weather woes. From the moment he had stepped out the door he had his hands in his pockets. Ever since, his left one had continuously been fiddling with the wondrous device he could not bear to part from.

He looked at one of the many dark windows lining the street shops as he passed by. Again, he saw the sharp green eyes that belonged to him. He had often received comments on those eyes over the years, but he still thought nothing of it.Finally, he reached his destination. The sandlot.  
By now, the typical twilight set in. It was always the same – the constant twilight was only broken by the short darkness and even shorter light. Every day, the same.  
The large Struggle stage was still set up, though he had heard that the last match was over two months ago. He did not care in the least, though; he just liked the area whenever it was as empty and peaceful as it was. He climbed onto the stage, dangling his legs off the side, much like a child would do in a stream.  
With a sigh, he fell back, arms spread, as if in order to absorb as much of the heavenly-seeming sunlight as possible. For once, he was relaxed.  
However, when he opened his eyes again, he found himself staring into another pair.  
"What the hell?" he demanded, with a start.  
"You do realize this is _my_ turf, right?" the stranger taunted with a troublesome look plastered on his face, a hat covering the majority of his greasy-looking hair.  
The boy glared, then rolled his eyes. "Ugh. What time is it?"  
"Time for you to _leave_."  
The boy cringed at the stupidity of the words. "Well, I'm usually gone by the time you get here, I suppose. Too bad I didn't leave soon enough this time. It's a damned shame," he retorted lazily, still not moving an inch.  
The hatted intruder continued to stare down the darkly-dressed boy with a menacing look. "I've seen you around town once or twice before. What the hell's your name, anyway?"  
The emerald-eyed boy smirked discreetly.  
"The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" he announced slyly, motioning to his head.  
"Hmph. Well, 'Axel', unless you want Seifer to be a name that you'll never be able forget, you better get out of my part of town, NOW. You have a serious ass-kicking with your name on it if you don't."  
"Seifer, huh?" He hoisted himself up, bright red hair still spiky as ever, despite the fact that he had been laying on it for quite a while. He hopped off the center stage and headed towards one of the adjoining alleyways. He did not feel like a fight so early in the morning; he was not too keen on the probability of getting this Seifer punk's blood on his clothes so soon in the day.  
A pleased-looking Seifer watched closely as Axel strolled away, amused by how simple it was to get rid of the "red-haired freak". Axel, on the other hand, smiled as well – somewhat devilishly. He raised his hand over his head, slender middle finger extended, as he called out, "The only reason you have your own part of town is because no one but **your mother** would want to get close to a fool like you."  
He smiled even more when he heard the fading curses of his new "acquaintance".  
"Fight next time, definitely," he laughed to himself, amused by both the idiotic trash-talker and the pain of resorting to using anything regarding 'your mom'. "...Totally worth it, though."

Even by this point, however, not much of the morning had passed, and he had time to kill. In fact, all things considered, he had all day to kill. Such was the joy of having no attachments; he had only moved into town a week prior, and he did well enough at avoiding mostly every person in the town. He was not the kind of person to immerse himself into his new surroundings. After all, he wasn't all too fond of becoming attached, anyway.  
Walking for a couple minutes brought him to another secluded alley tangent to the one he used to escape the presence of "the idiot with the hat". He sank down against one of the walls, isolated in his new corner. After scoping out his surroundings – two trash cans and a box of scrap metal – he entertained himself by pulling out the prized possession from his left pocket.  
_Click._  
A gleaming, metallic lighter rested in his had, the flame dancing in time with the slight breeze that tickled the area. Axel stared into the bright orange and blue; though he loved fire, every aspect of it, he was not often so mesmerized by simply staring at it. This time, however, it reminded him of earlier times.

"_What the hell is wrong with you? It's like something's holding you back. We've only known each other for... not that long, and I can still already see that. What __about your life is so damn hard, that you could be missing out on everything else now?"  
Axel stared into the face of his overly-critical questioner before looking back down to the lighter in his hand. He flicked it on again, letting the heat wash over his face. First, he opened his mouth to say words in retaliation for such accusations, but he closed it again before making a sound. He furrowed his eyebrows, and all hints of a smile ever existing on his face disappeared. Initially frustrated and then clearly upset, he dropped the lighter, sank and sat down, and held onto his knees._  
"_You want to know what went wrong?" he asked, voice quavering a little as he tried to put all the actual words together for the first time. "Fine. You'll hear it then."  
Sea green eyes focused on him as he formed the sentences from all the words that were so difficult for him to say._  
"_I saw my parents fucking die, four years ago now. I've been taking care of myself since, and I've gotten used to it. I like it this way... not that my parents died. I'm not that sick. But... that I've been able to make it myself. I've gone from place to place and I've made it out fine so, which is more than most people could say. And this entire way, I've had no one. Not one goddamned person. My mistakes and misfortunes are entirely my own. And now, you're here? You say we're friends, but I don't get it. Someone 'being here for me' – that's something I've never had. So I'm confused. And, though I hate to admit it, I'm pretty fucking scared. I don't know what could come of this, and I don't want anything else bad to happen, to me _or_ you."_

"_Afraid?" the other boy asked, tone softened immensely. He put his hand on Axel's shoulder as he looked him straight in the eyes. "Don't be. I said I'll be here for you, because that's what friends do. Hollow Bastion may still be new to you, and obviously, this concept of friendship is too. But you've got nothing to worry about. I won't let anything bad happen, and you can see that life can never truly be lived all by yourself. That's the way being a friend works – just be you, and let me like you for who you are. No worries involved," he finished as he smiled, sweeping silver locks of hair out of his eyes.  
Axel glanced up again into those bright, deep eyes, and said, "Man... you're so corny." He smiled too, knowing everything the guy said was right.  
His new, first real friend yelled, "HEY!" as he punched the redhead's arm. "I was just trying to be nice!"_

Yes, he loved once. He loved a few times, and he found friendship. But such a complex past could only help give rise to a complicated future, and as he loved, he lost as well. He learned plenty in the process, and as he sat in his alley corner, it was this past that he could not stop thinking about.  
He scoffed at himself. "Damn, Axel. Angst away."

_Axel stood, overlooking the emptiness of this place he called home. The faraway look in his eyes showed evidence of sadness still lingering, and ideas he did not exactly want to accept._  
"_Axel," a voice whispered. A strong arm was placed over his chest, warm body latched onto his back. Shortly thereafter, a chin was placed on his shoulder, and he automatically grabbed and held onto the arm tight. Axel could see the silver strands of hair dance around his own; he got goosebumps from finally feeling the touch he had longed for all morning._  
"_I love you, Axel," came another whisper, tickling his ear with an overly pleasant heat._  
"_I love you, too... more than anything." His heart pounded almost as quickly as the first time he said it. The sorrow hidden in his eyes seemed to be gone entirely, replaced by unmatched passion, even euphoria._  
"_What are you thinking about?" inquired the silver-haired boy._  
"_Other than you?"_  
_A slight smirk. _"_Yeah."_  
"_Well..." he started. Axel always had difficulty telling exactly what he felt and what he meant. "I almost feel like... I need to move on."  
He received a quizzical look._  
"_Axel..."_  
"_I don't want to lose you either, though," Axel said almost angrily, still trying to figure it out for himself. "God, I..."_  
"_That's not it, Axel," his lover interjected. "If you need a change, I want you to go on. I want you to find a dream, chase it." He paused to give him a sweet, chaste kiss on the cheek; Axel squeezed his arm ever tighter. "Find new places. Find new lovers. There's more to your life than Hollow Bastion."_  
"_But, Ri–"_  
"_No. Don't ever worry about losing me. I'll always be here. Even though I'll move on, too, I'll still always be here, and you can always come back to me."  
Axel turned to face the one he loved and wrapped his arms around him tight, clutching him. They kissed deeply, neither willing to let go. Once the kiss was broken, they stared into each other's eyes. Greens that clashed, yet belonged together.  
"That's what friends do."  
Silent tears welled and spilled for both of them when they knew that this could really be goodbye._

Closing his eyes and sighing deeply, Axel flipped the lighter's cap closed and slammed it on the ground next to him. He bit his lip as he tried to make such graphic images, such vivid memories, go away.  
Remembering those days made his heart ache so much, even though he would never admit it. He had loved those days more than just about anything; he missed them dearly, too. It was not that he regretted leaving – he still didn't – it was simply the fact that he missed his first friend, his first lover so much, and it pained him to realize that it had probably been over a year since they had last seen each other. It was just that Axel knew the only time he was anywhere close, or even on the right track, to being complete was when he was with him.  
Regardless, there was still the void that required filling. Axel could not stand leaving it so empty, thus giving rise to his desire to give up the best part in his life for the opportunity to search. It seemed foolish to him now, and though he wished he could return to his first beloved, he knew he would never forgive himself if he did not, at very least, find something that he was looking for when he left. The thing he wanted least was to discover that his choice led to nothing but a waste of time and a continuous emotional strain, because so far, that was all he felt he found.  
Axel grabbed the lighter again, this time pocketing it. He was finished with dwelling. He moodily decided that he was sick of living off nothing but his memories. He arose and dusted the dirt off his fraying black jeans before crossing his arms and frowning again. He began to slowly drag his feet toward the alley's end, eyes fixated on the dusty ground before him.  
However, at this point, he was not quite alone.

He heard voices drift languidly through the area on this dull-seeming midday in Twilight Town. The voices only became louder, indicating that the noisy people were headed in his direction, possibly even directly. Upon analysis of the noise, Axel could make out that there were four people nearby; he stayed put, as to avoid a possible confrontation in case any of the individuals were as stupid as the one of his first encounter that morning. Though he had still been staring at the ground, he started glancing up once the shuffling of feet was close enough to be entirely audible.

Black shoes. Plain, yet somewhat stylish.  
Normal-looking pants with a nice combination of white and black for shirts.  
Slender wrists with pale, attractive hands; the bracelet and finger cuffs particularly caught Axel's eye.  
Disheveled blonde hair that looked like no care was taken towards it, seen as it appeared to be nothing more than slightly-tamed bedhead.

And last: the bright, sapphire-blue eyes, wide with apparent happiness and perfectly complemented by a huge, toothy grin.

The eyes – enrapturing, to say the least. The depth in them... Axel could sense how easily one could lose themselves in them. In fact, it took immense effort to avoid getting lost in them immediately. He admired the intensity and the motion he could see so clearly, with just that single glimpse, and for some reason, he could not turn away.

"Roxas, come on!" one of the other ones shouted. "We said we would help take down posters... we were supposed to be there five minutes ago!" "Alright," came the blonde's response. He was still smiling as he walked with his friends.  
Axel stood, completely captivated. "Roxas..." he breathed, softly repeating the name of the adolescent boy.  
After another second, his altered form of consciousness broke. He realized his staring, so he looked away, somewhat embarrassed and definitely self-conscious, despite the fact that none of the four had seen him. Waiting for them to leave, he watched their shadows as their voices and laughter faded. Once they were far enough away, he left, sprinting as fast as he could to get away. He ran to his new home, the diminutive shack by the outskirts of the town. He ran the entire way, not pausing once, trying so hard to rid himself of this odd feeling he now fell victim to.  
Once there, he slammed the door and collapsed in the chair in which he had stayed up thinking the entire night before.

"God," he whispered wildly. "...This might be it."

The chill circulating through his veins bothered him to no end. That boy... he could tell right now, he would definitely be someone of such significance, someway or another.

"Roxas." He sounded the name out again, recalling the adorable, dumb grin he first saw.  
"Roxas." This time, he smiled.


	2. Sadistic Son of a Bitch

6/24/06 - Again, editing the author's notes, because otherwise, I'll go insane.  
And it's summer, so I should be happy, right? This'll make me happier.

Mm. I'm pleased with how the edits for chapter one turned out. Even if it's still not the best, it's a hell of a lot better than the first time on here. And now it's more angst than emo-ness.  
Hell yes.

Anywho, this chapter is better, in my oh-so-humble opinion. It may seem somewhat rushed at points, but that's only because I'm intollerably impatient when it comes to my own stuff.  
Only slight edits were made to this chapter, but again, I'm happier with how it turned out. It doesn't feel as gross as when I posted it first. And I realize that this is very short, but again, this is all set-up as well as getting me back into the habit of writing at all, so it's understandable, right? Not to mention, if I keep it short, there's less of a chance of me filling it with absolute crap.  
Cheers!

**  
**

**Sleepless**  
Chapter Two: Sadistic Son of a Bitch

Feet resting on a box and arms crossed in a half-moody, half-pleased fashion, Axel eyed the window once again as glimmers of light broke through the monotone of darkness outside. Of course, sleep had been out of the question, as always, but the hours of night brought forth a sense of excitement and apprehension this time, rather than the generalized anxiety of the night before.  
Rising and stretching with the accompaniment of an entirely unnecessary yawn, Axel scratched his head, his thoughts finally slowing down. The light of sunrise acted as his brain's tranquilizer; it seemed to be one of the only things of consistency. It was the only thing that appeared to remain true no matter where he was.  
On this particular morning, however, instead of leaving the "comfort" of his home in search of sunlight's warmth, he stayed, figuring it was about time he organized the mess of a house. Admittedly, it was small living quarters, but because of that, he had very little financial worry. For him, living a cheaper life long enough had the effect of resulting in some form of luxury or another, and it was not like he was living an extraordinarily impoverished lifestyle; just a thriftier one.  
So, maybe he'd been exaggerating when he thought it was a shack – it was a nice enough place, all things considered. Three rooms were more than a lot of people could say they had. Even if they were excruciatingly tiny rooms. The largest one was where he spent most of the time when he was "home", in which there was nothing but the folding chair he sat up all night in, his only real used furniture, save for the aluminum foil mirror he so loathed. Other than that, there was a dresser, which was to be used as his new closet, he supposed, and a bed, sheets perfectly made – untouched, despite his being there a week.   
Who needs to bother with a bed if you can't sleep, anyway?  
In addition to that, there was the bathroom, of which the best quality was the decent-enough shower, and a kitchen, with only a small table, fairly-sized marble counter, another folding chair, and a coffee maker.  
As Axel re-explored his "home", he found himself much quite a bit happier with it than he was upon arrival. After all, it was still better than nothing. He knew that for certain.  
Back in the main room, he glared at the surprisingly small number of boxes lining his floor. Never being one to hold onto a lot made moving incredibly easy, minus the emotional switches. Of course, it was that emotional strain that made Axel's daily life such a paradox – he wanted little ties so he could leave at will without regret, yet he left to find that kind of tie in the first place. It was a disappointing situation, to say the least. And a bit of a disgusting irony.  
Sighing, Axel kicked open the boxes, as he had no idea of what was inside them. He never tended to remember those kinds of things.  
First box, smallest one. Filled with papers. Mostly letters, many of which had been exchanged over only the past year. He avoided examining the pages too closely, sure than he may again caught up in memory if he did. Instead, he picked up the box and set it aside on the kitchen table. He'd go through them again, eventually.  
The second box was the largest of all, and it held the contents of his entire wardrobe. As he pawed his way through the clothes, he was even a little surprised by how much black he owned; the only four things preventing the collection from being completely monochrome were a cherry red shirt, a dull green shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and pink pair of socks. He never wore any of this, the reasons being, respectively: it clashed with his hair; it looked like he was advertising Christmas trees or something of the like; they were torn and faded in a way he despised; and actually, he wore the pink socks sometimes. Just to humor himself.  
Shuffling through his "less colorful" clothing was more fun, as he found so many articles of it that he never thought he'd see again. Amongst these was his long overcoat; while rarely worn, it was one of his favorite possessions, partially because of the fact that it made him look even scarier to the more timid individuals. His favorite, however, was a plain black, button-up shirt. It had been Riku's second-favorite shirt back in Hollow Bastion. Of course, Axel had stolen it, and Riku pretended not to notice. He could not help but grin at the memory.

Axel quickly grew tired of searching through clothes and whatever else was in the boxes; he was never the most focused person in the world. Because of this newfound boredom, he grabbed his clothes all in one armful and stuffed them into the dresser drawers haphazardly. There would be time to actually organize later; he just didn't want everything to be left in the box after he had actually spent time to look through it. Once all his clothes were stowed away, except for that favorite shirt and one of multiple pairs of ragged, black jeans, he dragged himself towards the shower, his torpidity matched only by legless people in a molasses pit. Just because he was actually up in the morning didn't mean that he had to move quickly then, too; that was against teenage code of conduct in every possible sense. Not that he cared about what every other kid on the planet was doing, he just happened to agree with that youthful stereotype in particular. Why pointlessly expend energy so early in the day for so pointless a cause? Exactly – there was no reasoning behind such insanity.

The shower sprayed a fine mist of hot water for a full five minutes before Axel would even think of stepping in; at that point, there was more steam than liquid water. What would be a scalding hell to the average individual was his heaven. It was the only way he could even stand water, as well as one of the only relaxations available to him in a town so unfamiliar. Twenty minutes passed when he finally turned off the water, though he was thoroughly unhappy with how freezing the normal air felt afterwards. For once, his hair seemed at least partially straightened out, but, as always, he was so warm that it was already half dry again before he even picked up the towel, thus returning to its relatively spiky state.  
He finally left the bathroom with a slight hint of haste, knowing he would be angry with himself later if he wasted the entire day away. He didn't even button his shirt up as he strode back towards the kitchen and the box of papers. As he sifted through the letters and blank pages, he made sure to pull out an envelope that he quickly addressed. In a tidy scrawl that, to most people, almost seemed unfitting for him, he wrote out a short note to Riku to serve as an update, as it had been a month since he sent out his last letter. If nothing else, he would at least send the letter to avoid the daylight becoming a complete waste to him.   
At long last, Axel buttoned his shirt, still smiling whenever he consciously noticed the left sleeve's small tears from wear. This jumped from his mind, however, when he eyed up something else of interest – his boots. They had been at the bottom of the box with his clothes, but now they sat, gleaming, just in front of the dresser. A malicious grin creeped onto his face when he saw these boots of the most ass-kicking variety, so much better than the shoes he had been wearing all week. Naturally, seeing these gave him an idea – an idea for a time killer that might actually be _fun_. And, as expected, that plan happened to involve Obnoxious Egotist Number One.  
He could not contain the overpowering smirk within.  
Swiftly lacing up his boots, he went over the endless possibilities in his mind, though choosing his most efficient method of attack: don't. ...Unless provoked. Though he barely knew the fool, he could still tell that it was not a matter of whether or not provocation would occur, but rather a matter of when.  
As he left and locked the door with his note, he made sure he picked up another lighter – just in case.

It was already past noon. Sunlight poured from the heavens above to everywhere around, seeming to leave no shadows undisturbed. It was the kind of weather that the more cold-inclined kids avoided at all costs via their overly complicated air conditioning systems and all else, but Axel was enjoying every minute of it. The wisp of a breeze that passed through the town even held some warmth to it, something Axel was quite pleased about.  
He strode through town at a pace that was not leisurely in the slightest, but still slow enough so he would not look too out of place. However, his speed of walking was not an issue – he attracted all sorts of stares regardless. No one appeared to remember ever seeing a pale, somewhat crazy-looking red-haired darkly-dressed man, and Axel scowled as he recalled the fact that he was still very new to town. He shrugged it off; he was a man with a mission, after all.   
The more important of his two tasks of the day was completed in so timely a manner that he was even a little surprised. He was able to find one of the town's four "strategically-placed" mailboxes within three and a half minutes from leaving his doorstep, and it was there that he abandoned the envelope that, so far, was his only connection to the world outside of this seemingly god-forsaken town.  
_Sure, it's a nice enough place_, he found himself thinking, _but it's still creepy to me. Maybe it's just the fact that people know each other a little too well..._ he finished, glaring back at another pair of people who were gawking at him. He hated people who stared too long without a reason; he got enough of that back at every other city he had visited, let alone lived in. He got used to it easily enough, though.

Axel finally neared the Sandlot after ferociously glaring – and most likely scaring – at least ten people on his way down. The Struggle stage was finally in sight, and he smirked once again as he saw the boy he so viciously desired to inflict pain upon. His particularly frightening smile of sorts, however, faded as he approached and saw what was going on.

"Leave me alone, Seifer! I was just passing through, not 'intruding on your territory' or anything like that, and you know it! Let me go!"His smile was definitely gone. In fact, it seemed like it had never existed. What replaced it was a quick frown, followed by a look of horrifyingly intense anger that could leave the fearless crying for their mothers.   
"Shut it, _Roxas_! I told you not to come around here. I thought you would've listened this time around, based on the last beating we gave you!" the greasy-haired boy shouted, cackling stupidly as he shoved the smaller blonde to the ground.  
Axel's fury only rose as Roxas was kicked twice more. The fact that he had heard one of Seifer's two cronies say "y'know" five times in the last thirty seconds did not help in the least bit, either. He heard Seifer growl "Beat it," as Roxas got up to his feet and walked away, holding his hand to his bleeding mouth. He was a tough kid, Axel would give him that; it was just that pacifism would never work with a punk like Seifer. That much was true, and completely obvious after only two days.   
While Roxas wandered down the alleyway, wincing with pain, Seifer cockily smirked all the while. When he turned around, however, he was greeted with a square kick to the chest. He flew a good five feet through the air, hit the ground, and slid another four before he even recognized who the hostile assaulter was.  
"You!" he spluttered with the accompaniment of a cough.  
"Yes, me," Axel said slowly, relishing his words as he made his way forward and stepping on Seifer's hand, as he was still sitting on the ground, too winded to get up. The helpless-sounding yelp that emanated shortly thereafter was utterly satisfying. "Nice to see you again, Obnoxious Egotist One." He glanced briefly at the other two, the light-haired girl and the gross-looking brunette, who were obviously taken aback by such a turn in events. "Two, three," he said, granting them their titles with a slick nod.  
He released Seifer's wrist from under his foot, but nudged him in the side with a quick, sharp kick. "Get up," he demanded.  
Seifer obliged, though he planned on it anyway. If it was a fight this redhead wanted, that's what he would get.  
On the other hand, Axel was pleased with this response. It would have been so much less satisfying if the idiot went down with a fight.  
Sneering, Seifer shuffled his feet, either not noticing or not caring that both his elbows were bleeding and dirt-stained. He charged, failing to land an unsuccessful punch; instead, his arm only brushed up against Axel's sleeve. Axel laughed lowly at the lack of his opponents speed _and _fighting skills. He turned ever-so-slightly and kicked again, this time at the back of the guy's knee; on cue, the fool fell over once again.  
The redhead laughed again, darker than ever. "I don't want to kill you... yet, anyway." He noticed the greasy-haired boy was breathing heavily already. For now, such a pathetic adversary... maybe that first kick had a little more power to it than he had thought. "Really, though," he continued. "Why the _hell_ would you beat up some kid who did nothing wrong? _Walking_ is no terms for beating someone up like that. He did nothing to deserve it." He paused, smiling quite evilly. "But you know **you** deserve all of this, right?"  
The glare that Seifer received chilled him to the bone, but he retorted coolly nonetheless. "It's always been that way. Anyone who doesn't listen to what we say pays for it."  
But despite his overconfident response, he could see it in the burning emerald eyes. When it came to killing someone... he knew now never to put it past him.  
Axel shook his head, half saddened by yet another manifestation of humankind's ignorance and stupidity, yet half humored by the latter. His eyes flitted over to his shirt sleeve again, upon faintly remembering Seifer's feeble attempt at a punch. At what he saw, he regained every bit of anger that had seethed so gloriously.  
"So you make up excuses, pathetic ones at that. Whatever. But _then_ you go and get blood on my FAVORITE shirt! What nerve," he concluded, teeth gritted, as he elbowed his enemy's back. Seifer collapsed again and stayed on the ground while Axel crouched down nearby, pulling off his hat with a disgusted look on his face. He tossed the hat, grabbed onto the boys's shirt, and pulled a lighter from his back pocket, which he lit with inexplicable ease. Watching the flame flicker, he held the light closer to the back of Seifer's head. Only a few hairs were caught in the flame, but the overwhelming stench appeared in full-force. Axel only grinned, rather maniacally at that, with the onset of the scent – he had many memories regarding singed hair, most of them fond ones.  
"What... what the hell are you doing?" Finally, Seifer struggled once again, but Axel indulged himself in pinning down the boy by the neck and waited another good ten seconds before extinguishing the flame and pocketing the lighter. He rose to his feet again with ease, and crossed his arms, staring down at the "victim" who finally got what he deserved. And lasting proof of it, at that.  
"What goes around..." Axel muttered as he turned to leave.  
"Hey! That wasn't cool, y'know!"  
Axel's eyes automatically rolled as he sighed loudly. He had forgotten the other two were there. Despite his annoyance, he faced them and said clearly and slowly, "Leave the kid alone. Got it memorized?" With that, he sauntered away to one of the alleyways, jabbing the bothersome brunette in the ribs just for good measure. The girl was smart enough to have backed away, and for that, he gave her some credit.  
When he reached the alley he was headed for, he heard a faint groan from the location he had just left. "Ugh... you're one sadistic son of a bitch, you know that?" the badly beaten boy called out while pulling himself off the ground and rubbing a hand through the patch of his smouldered hair.  
Axel grinned cruelly to himself. "Oh, you flatter me!" he yelled, waving his hand high over his head as he just continued to walk away.

He sighed again, stretching and cracking his knuckles. He certainly had more fun than he had bargained for. At the same time, he felt troubled; he was a bit worried about the boy.  
_Roxas_.  
It was an enigma of sorts. He could have fought back easily enough, despite being unarmed. If nothing else, he could have defended a little. It puzzled Axel to no end over why he didn't; the boy seemed strong enough, even _if _he was a little short.  
What bothered Axel even more, however, was the fact that he could not stop being bothered by it.  
It was just some kid... what did he care?

"Hey!" a voice called, a good number of yards behind him.  
The hair on the back of his neck prickled. It was _his_ voice.

"Hey," the blonde yelled again. Feigning ignorance, Axel quickened his pace slightly and refused to turn and look. The blonde was undeterred, though, much to Axel's dismay. Instead of giving up, he sprinted closer.  
Axel turned to face the boy, who broke out into another grin; while it was less dumb-looking, it was as adorable as ever.  
"Um... hey," Axel greeted with a brief wave of two fingers. Meanwhile, Roxas scanned the taller teen's features, thoughts racing. _No one has red hair here... and are those markings under his eyes... natural? His shirt is nice, though, and those jeans are kind of hot on him._

He caught himself, eyes wide with the sudden realization.  
_Did I seriously just think that?_

He shook it off and started talking. "That was pretty awesome," he raved, smiling once again as he motioned his head toward the Sandlot. "It's about time someone beat the crap out that idiot..."  
Axel nodded, remaining silent. He bit his lip... the boy was even cuter up close. This confused him immensely; he was never one to be so entranced by anyone's looks so unexpectedly. His lusts were rarely so overpowering, and most took time to develop, and it wasn't like he exclusively scouted out boys. Hell, it took him _days_, if not weeks, to fall for Riku when countless others fluttered at a single glance...

But this boy was different.

_Don't blush. Don't blush. Blushing's not your thing. For the love of god, the world, and everything in it, **don't blush**._

Luckily, Axel was able to feel as uneasy as he did without his body turning against him. He had only blushed twice before this – ever – both times being in incredibly unusual situations, and he wasn't about to start now.   
"No one stands up to Seifer anymore. I can hold my own if I have something to defend myself with, but what's the point of carrying a stupid bat around town just in case I run into him? Completely insensible..."   
The focus of Axel's eyes snapped back to Roxas' face; he had been staring off without realizing it. Once Roxas looked into his intense, green eyes, he ceased speaking. "Oh... Sorry, I'm talking too much..."  
Axel smiled warmly. It was much less creepy than the smile he had five minutes ago, that was for sure. "Don't worry about it."  
Of course, the smile returned to Roxas' bright face immediately. He did not even seem the particularly smiley type, made it seem even more odd to Axel, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.   
"I probably really hurt the guy," Axel said stiffly, though stifling a laugh as he stated the painfully obvious. But his expression changed to one of puzzlement when he continued. "Doesn't that bother you at all?" he questioned thoughtfully. "I could've killed him."  
"Well, there are three things to that," Roxas responded after quick thought. "One... you didn't. Two, he was asking for it. Three, I don't think I could be ever be bothered by it – he's given me at least four concussions, and the band-aid industry exists in this town just because of him."  
Axel snorted softly at this, entertained by every ounce of apparent truth in that straight-forward statement. The traces of smile remained on his lips. He felt much more at ease then he had expected. It was almost like the worry melted away entirely.

And when he thought about it like that, it was actually a little scary.

"So," Roxas began again, curiosity noticeable in his voice. "What's your name? I haven't seen you around before."  
"Axel," he replied simply with a small nod. "Moved here a week ago."  
"Ah, nice to meet you, then." The blonde extended a hand. "I'm Roxas." Axel shook it as briefly as possible without seeming rude.  
A moment passed before Roxas gasped, suddenly aware of the time, as well as how much of it he had just used. "Oh! I should go..." He almost seemed saddened by the fact.  
"Maybe I'll see you around," Axel said indifferently, effectively masking his disappointment. He could already tell that the less time he spent around the kid, the more time he would end up thinking about him.  
"Yeah," Roxas said, genuine smile on his face. Axel's eyebrow rose without his knowing; he had never thought the boy would be so very amiable, especially towards him. Outsiders were never so welcomed before.  
"Bye!" The blonde waved a little as he left. Once he turned, he ran, clearly late for some engagement or another.

Axel watched the last of his shadow disappear around the alley's corner. He slunk down against the wall, much like the day before, lost in thought before he hit the ground.

"...I have _never_ seen anyone so cute."


End file.
